Sexuality: Are We More Sexually Fluid?

It was once true that sexuality was seen as black and white. You were either straight or you were gay. People tended not to think of anything in between, and when they did, people were simply described as “confused”.

Nowadays people seem to be more sexually fluid than they once was… or are they? Are people actually more sexually fluid, or is it simply that they are more open to talking about who they are?

The different sexualities

For a lot of people, they’ll remember their youth a little differently to how things are now. Most people were straight. Some were gay. We didn’t really open our minds to the thought that there was more to sexuality than that.

Now, the LGBTQ community banner has expanded massively to include more. This is fantastic… unless you are completely in the dark about the different sexualities out there. So what are the different sexualities?

Heterosexual

If you are heterosexual, you will find yourself attracted to people of the opposite gender to you. You’re straight, and don’t find yourself attracted to people of the same gender, trans, or two-spirited.

Homosexual

Homosexuals are sexually attracted to people of the same gender. More commonly, they’ll be referred to as gay (for men interested in men) or lesbian (women interested in women). They form the first two letters of LGBTQ.

Bisexual

Those who describe themselves as bisexual are, traditionally, attracted to men and women. They enjoy sexual relationships with both.

Asexual

Asexuals, often shortened to ace, are those who do not experience sexual attraction. They may sometimes have sex, but on rare occasions, as they much prefer emotional relationships and intellectual connections with others.

Pansexual

For some people, they find themselves attracted to anyone, regardless of gender. They will find men, women, trans, gender-fluid, and two-spirited attractive and want a sexual relationship with them. They are also sometimes described as omnisexual.

Sexually fluid

Those who are sexually fluid, or questioning, aren’t yet sure of their sexuality. They are usually figuring it out and trying to come to terms with their sexual identity. Sexual fluidity means that you don’t need to pin your sexuality down. You can explore.

The difference then and now

It used to be that people saw sexuality as very clear cut. You were either straight or you were gay. Anyone in between these two were referred to using words like “greedy” and “confused” to describe them, even though they are well aware of their sexuality. Bisexuals and pansexuals are still sometimes referred to in this way.

Asexuality, for example, hasn’t really been seen as a sexuality until recently. It may have been documented, but it wasn’t a widespread word. If you didn’t want to have a sexual relationship you were simply referred to as having a low sex drive and told that you’d want to have sex “when you met the right person”.

So are we more sexually fluid than we once were? Some would happily argue that yes, we are. We are happy to take the time to explore our sexualities and figure out just who we are.

Others would say that it is just the fact that the world is more accepting than it once was. There are plenty of supportive communities out there for anyone who is queer (an umbrella term often used to describe anyone who is not heterosexual), which means that people are far more comfortable coming forward about their sexuality.

For some people, the escort industry is one of the more welcoming communities to be a part of. Regardless of gender or sexuality, you are pretty safe here.

Do you need to pin down your sexuality?

Some people feel like they have to know their sexuality as soon as possible… but you don’t. If you are questioning it, you don’t have to tick a box and say “I am definitely 100% this and it will never change”.

In fact, there are plenty of people out there who find themselves attracted to more than one gender but wouldn’t identify as bisexual or pansexual. If you find yourself sexually attracted to someone, that’s usually a good identifier of where you sit on the spectrum.

But what do you think? Are we, as people, more sexually fluid than we once were, or are we just open to the idea that sexualities are always black and white? We’d love to hear from you on this subject, so leave a comment in the box below to join in the discussion!

Lara Mills is a writer who has four years of sex industry expertise behind her. Since she entered the adult industry, she has worked on the Escort Advertising forums, before moving into her current role three years ago.

Since then she has gained a fine reputation with her blogs on sex advice, sexual health and amusing news stories from around the globe. She is also a campaigner for the rights of sex workers from all over the world.

In her spare time, Lara keeps herself active by going running, and is something of a film buff. She also loves to go travelling.